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A new survey from Gallup Education shows that only nine percent of business leaders consider the school an applicant attended to be “very important” when it comes to hiring decisions.

Instead, businesses are placing more emphasis on relevant skills and knowledge in the field.

Business leaders feel similar apathy when it comes to applicants’ college majors. While there are still pronounced trends towards hiring applicants from high-ranking schools in certain fields, a general shift towards more skills-focused and experience-based hiring seems clear in the business community.

The public is still catching up on the trend -- 30% of Americans think that higher-education institutions are very important to their job applications.

When might the college you attended be most considered in a job application? What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of a skills-focused hiring market? What is the best reflection of how well a new employee will fit in in the workplace?

Guests:

Brandon Busteed, Executive Director, Gallup Education

John Boudreau, Ph.D., Professor and Research Director at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations; co-author of 'Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital'